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The French and Indian War (1754–1763)
The Virginia planters wanted to expand westward to develop more crops and improve their wealth. Britan granted them acres of land for profit and the French also claimed some of this land. The war started by these two countries competing for claims. The war caused Great Britain to go into deep debt, causing Imperial reforms and strain on the American colonist (Wars for Empire) -
The Proclamation Line
The British territories spread from Florida to Canada after the war, causing the Natives to be invaded on. Many wars broke out between the Indians and colonists because of this. Britain was aware of the issues on the frontier and developed the Proclamation Line. This line ran along the Aphalashion mountains restricting the settlers to be able to move westward. Bitterness was felt because the settlers just fought a war in hopes of expanding westward(Problems on the American Frontier). -
The Stamp Act (1765)
British Parliament implemented The Stamp Act on the colonists, taxing every type of printed paper. This angered the colonist to the point of violence against the act(The Stamp Act and the Sons and Daughters of Liberty) "They threaten to pull down & burn the Stamp Office row building, and that they will hold every man as Infamous that shall presume to carry the Stamp Act into Execution; so that it is thought Mr. Oliver will resign"(Hinshelwood, 1765). -
The "Shot heard Around the World"
Enough was enough for the colonists! They started to fight the British, and rebelled against the taxation laws by dumping tea into the Boston harbor. They later started firing against the British as they marched into Lexington and Concord by the Massachusetts militias.(Britain’s Law-and-Order Strategy and Its Consequences). This event was known as "shot heard around the world"-Ralph Waldo Emerson. This shot triggered the beginning of the American Revolution. -
The Treaty of Paris (1783)
The treaty in Paris was made between Great Britan and America. This Peace Treaty was the recognition of Independence in the United States. The Treaty talks about forgiving all the misunderstandings that wrecked the two countries friendship(THE TREATY OF PARIS)."and of the United States of America, to forget all past Misunderstandings and Differences that have unhappily interrupted the good Correspondence and Friendship which they mutually wish to restore"(Transcript of Treaty of Paris,1783). -
United States Constitution (1787)
Philadelphia held a constitutional convention to put forth a new plan for national governments. The constitution starts out by saying “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
